Gordon Terry was chief planning officer at the borough until 1991 and was later a Conservative member of the council.

Mr Terry was born and raised in the town, going to Northgate High School before studying at Kings College at the University of London.

He returned to his home town as a senior planning officer in 1977 and was promoted to chief planning officer in the early 1980s.

He left the council in 1991 to become an independent planning consultant, and was later elected to the authority.

However his period as a councillor was marked by controversy and he had difficult relationships with some of his former colleagues.

In 2004 his career as a councillor came to an end after he was disqualified and suspended after a standards body found he has failed to declare an interest correctly into a planning issue and that he had been disrespectful to a council officer.

Mr Terry had been ill for five years after suffering a stroke and died at a nursing home in Ipswich on January 31.

His ex-wife Judy, herself a Conservative member of the borough council, said he had been a visionary head of planning – and had been one of the early advocates of the redevelopment of the Waterfront area of the town.

“He was always interested in architecture and how it could improve Ipswich. When we were on holiday in France he would always look at the buildings and get ideas for how Ipswich could develop,” she said.

Mr Terry leaves a sister, Gill, who now lives in Cumbria. She said: “He had a great love of Ipswich and always wanted to the best for the town.”

Ipswich major Hamil Grant said: “Gordon was a long-serving senior employee and, later, a Member of Ipswich Borough Council and we offer our condolences to his family and friends.”

Mr Terry’s funeral is at the Seven Hills Crematorium at noon on February 21.